Vehicles, such as motorcycles, have direction signaling systems. An operator of a vehicle utilizes a direction signaling system of the vehicle to indicate intended turning movement of the vehicle. Typically, a signaling system includes a manually actuatable selector that is operated to activate the signaling system to provide either a right turn indication or a left turn indication.
For a vehicle, such as a automobile, with a steering member (e.g., a steering wheel) that is rotated a significant amount (e.g., plural rotations) to accomplish a steering maneuver, cancellation of a turn indication can easily be accomplished by monitoring steering wheel rotation. Motorcycles typically do not include a steering member that has such a relatively large range of travel that occurs during a steering maneuver. Often, a steering maneuver on a motorcycle can be accomplished with little or no movement of a steering handlebar of the motorcycle. Thus, for motorcycles, it is common to have a signaling system that requires manual cancellation (i.e., a manual movement of a selector switch).
Also, it is known to utilize a timing mechanism within a direction signaling system on a motorcycle for canceling a turn indication after a predetermined time period. Further, it is known to use a mechanical tilt switch within a motorcycle direction signaling system to obtain cancellation of a turn indication. The use of a tilt switch has some merit because a motorcycle will often be tilted and then returned to an upright orientation during a steering maneuver.
However, the above-mentioned turn indication cancellation features for motorcycles have shortcomings. Reliance upon manual cancellation has the associated detraction that the operator may forget to manually cancel the indication. Use of a timer, per se, could result in an indication period that is either less than or greater than a period in which the motorcycle operator wishes the indication to occur. Mechanical tilt switches may be ineffective in canceling all turn indications. This would be true if the turn is accomplished without sufficient tilting of the motorcycle to move a mechanical tilt switch.